'John Wick Chapter 4' Actor Marko Zaror Praises Director Chad Stahelski's 'New Line of Action Filmmaking' (Exclusive)
John Wick: Chapter 4 is nearly three solid hours of high-intensity shootouts, car chases, and all-out brawls, as directed by a martial arts expert and former stuntman, Chad Stahelski. Recently, PopCulture.com had a chance to speak with some of the film's cast, including Marko Zaror, who plays Chidi, who commands an army of High Table assassins for the Marquis Vincent Bisset de Gramont (Bill Skarsgård). During our conversation, Zaror — who previously worked as a stuntman himself — opened up about joining the billion-dollar franchise, which he says is all thanks to Stahelski's "new line of action filmmaking."
"When I saw the movie I was like, 'Oh, my god,' because you never know," Zaror joked of when he realized just how much screen time Chidi has in the movie. "You do your job... And, I know that they cut a lot of the movie because the movie was long. They cut a lot. They tweaked it, and you never know when they put the scissors and they start cutting, and you never know what's going to fly. The first time I saw the movie was in New York, and man, I don't know, I was screaming, and moving, and I was sweating. Oh, my god, like adrenalin rush, the whole movie."
Regarding what drew him into the role and how he made it his own, Zaror told us, "When I read the script, and I had some dialogues in French with the Marquis, then my first take was like, 'Well, I'm going to present an option to Chad, and I can turn it into Spanish, and I can bring that Latino thing that I have,' so to bring that Latino flavor. He was totally cool with it. He let me play with it like that, and try even some Spanish words in some scenes. I did some scenes completely in Spanish, so we did a lot of takes of the same and tried."
He continued, "Actually, the first scene we did was the one in the Continental, the hotel. That actually was my big scene where I'm in charge of the whole thing. That was great. That was actually my first scene because that allowed us to discover the character. I came in very late to the movie. I arrived, and it was right into it."
Discussing how he prepared for portraying Chidi, a nearly invincible mercenary, Zaror shared, "I did a lot of deep work with my friend, director, coach, Ernesto Diaz, and we work, and we really went deep on how we bring this guy to life and then how he's going to move, because that has to do a lot of the fighting, my fighting techniques need to match where my character is coming from in terms of feelings or goals. We try options with Chad and then he's letting me play around and he started liking it, then I start feeling the direction that we were going and then that was cool. We co-create the character there together. It was pretty cool."
Considering that Stahelski was a stuntman before moving into the director's chair, it would stand to reason that he likely has a very keen eye for action sequences and probably has a specific idea for what he wants. Zaror confirmed this. "Man, it's a high demand, high everything," he said. "When you think you got it good, then he's going to ask you for a little bit better. He knows exactly what he wants, so you need to give it 200% all the time. The good thing is that you know that when he says I got it, it is because it's perfection."
Explaining why this makes Stahelski such an effective director, Zaror said, "He's been there. He was a stuntman. He is a fight coordinator. He's an amazing martial artist. So, as a martial artist, when you have a martial artist, a real martial artist behind the camera, it is a very big difference."
He went on to add, "Because a martial artist, besides directing the movie, you are also analyzing each technique and a martial arts technique, for the fans of martial arts, we know what a kick's supposed to look like, what it's supposed to sound like, and the impact and the damage that should supposed to be, what it feels real, what it doesn't, if it feels good contact or not, those little details, right? You as a martial artist know, but when you are not, then you don't. It's hard to feel that, to understand that if you're not a true martial artist."
Zaror clarified, "Chad knows exactly what that combination is to feel like, look like, the type of impact, at the same time that he's coordinating all the stunts around. The car is going over this guy, the guy is flying in the air. It's a lot of things to put together, but he knows because he's done that and he's been there, so he knows how it's supposed to feel. 'Okay, that fall is not looking painful. I've done that fall, and it's painful, so we're not getting it right, because it should feel a little more painful...' It is amazing, man, because you know that he's going to get the best out of you for sure."
The Chilean martial artist joked that sometimes Stahelski knew a stunt needed "adjustment" to look like it "hurt more...because this is not hurting the way it's supposed to hurt." He later added, "That's why when you see these movies, the people just lose their mind, because it's like it don't stop, it doesn't stop. Then you see one scene... Man, when I saw John Wick... the first time, Chapter 4... this big opening scene, this fighting, that was amazing. That was the beginning of the movie, and I'm like, 'Okay, what's after this? How are you going to beat this?' And then in each scene it's going up, up. He totally set up a new line of action filmmaking in the industry for sure."
Finally, Zaror said, "To be part of it, man, it's just such a blessing, and so thankful. What can I say? I'm a fan man. I'm a fan. I'm a martial artist. I love to train, love to feel that adrenaline on set, and love to have fun. I've seen these movies, and I've been doing movies my whole many years now, independent, big movies, little movies, and I love to do it, so being part of this is besides being an amazing experience, and of course being in this, but I was a kid having so much fun and looking at these other two kids, Chad and Keanu, like the fans. They enjoyed every second, and that's beautiful to see, man." John Wick: Chapter 4, is now available on Digital, and will be coming to 4K Ultra HD , Blu-ray, and DVD on June 13, from Lionsgate.